Apple Trees
by ohyouknow88
Summary: Bumi's been unBumilike all day. Tenzin finds his brother in a tree, and joins him for an apple. But, Bumi always seems to make something go wrong for his brother. one-shot. Please, read and review.


**Finally, I'm finished with this. I've wanted to do a story with Bumi as an actual main character since i fell in love with him in the five seconds of screen time he got! Anyways, i figure he's the type of guy to get distracted easily, so yeah. He would probably be around twelve to thirteen or fourteen years old in this, with Tenzin a year or two younger. They still haven't made the age difference clear...so i'll stop rambling so you can read the actual story. **

* * *

Bumi sat on one of the higher branches in the apple tree, his back against the trunk and one foot swinging over the edge, his arm resting on his other knee. He tossed his half eaten apple from one hand to the other absentmindedly, just thinking. He couldn't remember what had prompted him to climb the tree in the first place, but he didn't care anymore. He just wanted some time alone to think.

He took another bite of the apple and chewed it slowly, listening closely for any search party that might have already been sent for him. He would surely hear it before he was spotted. Enough leaves concealed him, so anyone would have to either have really good hearing or be on his level, nearly twenty feet off the ground, to find him easily. He also made a point to make sure he wouldn't be seen from the sky by his brother or father, if either were even looking.

Soon enough, he could hear the all too familiar sound of his mother and sister yelling his name. He took another bite of his apple and looked over the edge of the branch to see they were almost directly below him. He smiled to himself when he realized how easy it would be to hit either of them in the head with a well aimed apple core, and even aimed his at his sister, but pulled it back and took the last bite of it. He didn't want to waste a good apple on anyone.

They didn't stand a chance of finding him. They were looking around the ground, barely looking up at all, and shouting his name so loud he was sure he could have shouted back without being heard. It didn't take long for them to move their search to a different area of the island, but Bumi could still hear their voices for a few minutes.

He went to take another bite of the apple, and, realizing there wasn't any left, placed the core on a nearby branch with three others. He fearlessly stood and took a few steps along the branch, and leaned to one side to grab the closest apple he could. He twisted it off the stem and rubbed it on his shirt before turning easily on the branch, which was hard considering how small it was compared to him, and sat against the trunk again.

"You know, you really shouldn't sneak up on people like that," he said calmly, to no one in particular as he took a bite of the apple and wiped his sleeve across his mouth.

"And you shouldn't eat so much before dinner."

Bumi smirked. Even when he wasn't certain anyone was around, he could always take a wild guess and a shot in the dark. "What do you want Tenzin?" He said it with as much annoyance as love for his younger brother.

"An explanation," Tenzin said as he plopped down across from his brother. The branch shook slightly with the new weight, but neither thought it would snap. Tenzin had been watching Bumi for some time, staying silent from his perch a few branches up. He had been hidden by leaves and close branches, but it seemed Tenzin wasn't the quietest airbender in the world, and, even though he usually found Bumi first, his brother always had a way of knowing he was nearby.

"As to…?" Bumi inquired as he swallowed a piece of the apple, spinning the rest in his hand boringly. Tenzin just rolled his eyes, knowing he wouldn't get a good response.

"As to why no one has seen you in several hours." Tenzin was beginning to lose his patience as his brother spent the next two minutes examining the apple he was holding, deciding it was okay, and taking another bite out of it.

"Listen cue ball, I just want to be left alone. Why don't you go meditate or something, huh? Don't waste your time here," Bumi said, his mouth still full.

"Mom and dad have been worried sick for hours and all you have to say is that you want to be left alone?" Tenzin looked genuinely concerned at that point, mostly because he knew it wasn't like his brother to be alone for large amounts of time. It also came to his attention that Bumi was, well, not being Bumi. Any other time, he would have run off to have fun, not sulk in a tree and eat apples for almost the whole day.

"Pretty much. I don't see why I have to explain anything to you though."

"Bumi," Tenzin began, but stopped. He wasn't one for comforting anyone. Kya would be better help in this situation, but she was with their mother, trying to find Bumi, who took another bite of his apple and looked at Tenzin like he was ready to push him out of the tree. If he went to find her, his mother would catch on and it would be a disaster. If he didn't, it would still end in a disaster as far as Tenzin was concerned. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Great.

"What are you still doing here?" Bumi asked. Holding the apple in front of his face and eyeing it carefully.

"What will it take for you to get out of the tree and stop sulking?" Tenzin asked, still concerned, but more cautious now. His brother was as unpredictable as the weather, and Bumi could make weird demands.

Bumi looked thoughtful for a second, "Can you hand me an apple?"

"You already have one," Tenzin replied. Bumi just shrugged and looked at the half eaten apple in his hand for a second.

"I know. I just want a new one." Tenzin sighed and stood as carefully as he could, keeping an eye on his brother, who was giving him a weird smile, and moving farther out to get the nearest apple.

Bumi rolled his eyes as Tenzin nearly slipped. How could an airbender have a harder time balancing twenty feet up than him? Bumi wasn't light on his feet by any means, but Tenzin had to be. It was weird really. He looked back at the apple again before Tenzin handed him a second.

"Thanks bro," he said with a wink. He didn't bother rubbing it on his shirt this time. He took a big bite of it as Tenzin sat down again.

"Will you come down now?" Tenzin asked. He felt his brother was just getting started, and would probably drag him into some scheme of his that somehow involved their sister and having a place to hide for a few days any time now. Unpredictability was not something Tenzin enjoyed, and unpredictable was Bumi's middle name as far as he was concerned.

"No. Do you want an apple?" Bumi asked, offering the one he had already taken a few bites of.

"Why would you give me that one? You've already eaten most of it," Tenzin suspiciously asked his older brother, eyeing him up and down.

Bumi just smiled and put tossed it to his brother before taking another bite of his new one. When he finished, he wiped his sleeve across his mouth and laughed at his brother, "Don't question things little brother. That could be the best tasting apple in the world, and you just have to take a bite of it to find out."

Tenzin cautiously looked at the bit of apple in his hand. It looked safe enough. He met his brother's eyes for a moment, and then bit into the last bit of apple.

Bumi smiled, but tried to hide it by taking another bite. Tenzin saw it, and chewed slower, trying to think of what his brother was up to, but he was distracted by the horrible taste of the apple. He looked at his brother with a grimace on his face, to which Bumi just laughed, spitting out a bit of apple.

"What was in that?" Tenzin asked, looking at the leftover core. It didn't taste right at all. He was still chewing some, but stopped when he saw his brother's red face.

Bumi was doubled over with laughter, making the whole branch shake. He would have fallen over if he wasn't holding on to the branch with one hand.

"Seriously Bumi. What is in the apple?"

Bumi looked up, his smile splitting his face and eyes glistening with tears from his laughter. Yep, he was back. "Just a caterpillarworm," he laughed. Tenzin's eyes widened as he dropped the apple core and spit out what he had left in his mouth onto the branch.

Tenzin wiped off his tongue with a hand and watched a tiny, half crushed caterpillarworm move out of the spit up and he almost threw up at the thought of eating it. He was a vegetarian. All life is sacred. "Do you realize I almost killed it?" Tenzin yelled. The poor thing disappeared under a leave before he could finish. "Why did you do that?"

Bumi shrugged and took another bite of his apple, still laughing at his brother's green face, "Nothing would have happened. But you should have seen your face! That was classic little brother. I thought you were going to fall out of the tree!"

"I'm a vegetarian!" Tenzin yelled, now turning red, which made Bumi laugh even more.

"So am I," Bumi declared, "But caterpillar worms don't hurt anybody, and their good protein. I've already had a few today."

Tenzin's jaw dropped in disgust as Bumi opened his mouth and saw a caterpillarworm wiggling through the apple. He clenched his upset stomach and grumbled, "There's something seriously wrong with you."

"And there's something hilariously wrong with you. Lighten up. Do you know where dad is?"

"Why?" Tenzin asked. He had definitely lost his appetite. He wouldn't even be able to look at apples for a week, but Bumi seemed perfectly fine. What was wrong with his brother?

"I wanna make him eat one," Bumi said, standing up and reaching for an apple. "I wonder if he'll turn as green as you. You wanna come and find out with me?"

"No!" Tenzin yelled. "I doubt dad will be too happy about eating a bug, and I don't want to find out if he will turn green!"

Bumi gave a sly smile, "In that case, I think we should go see what Kya does. Dad's all about the whole sacred life stuff. He might actually get mad at us, but Kya? I wonder if waterbenders turn blue when they get sick. Come on! I wanna find out! Do you know where we could hide in case she figures out what we're up to?"

"How did this turn into we?"

"Because, if I get caught, I'll drag you down with me!"

"What! I'm not going to do anything!"

"Yeah, but you're guilty by association!"

"Fine. You might be able to hide in one of the rooms of the temple, but I'm not associated with you anymore."

"Too late bro," Bumi said, pulling the apple off the stem and beginning his descent, "You just told me where to hide. You are as guilty as me, so come on. I'll need someone to defend me from the wrath of two waterbenders."

"Bumi, you are so weird."

"I've heard," Bumi said, looking up at his little brother. "Now, are you coming or not?"

Tenzin grumbled for a second before hopping off the branch and slowly floating to the ground. "Fine," he decided, "but that doesn't mean I'll ever help you with these pranks of yours ever again."

"One's enough," Bumi replied with a smirk.

* * *

A few hours later, both of the brothers were slowly being defrosted from a tree by their father. Katara and Kya were now in the city, and Aang had decided that he would laugh at his kids while he slowly used a small flame to melt the ice instead of using waterbending. It was an amusing punishment to fit a strange crime.

So, let me get this straight," Aang said while trying to be as serious as possible. "Both of you," he said, looking back and forth at them, lingering on Tenzin in amused disbelief for a few seconds, "gave your sister an apple. With a caterpillarworm in it? And you didn't think she would freeze you to a tree?"

"Yep," Bumi said with a smile, "Though I do have to admit, not my best plan."

"I really don't like you," Tenzin said seriously, causing Bumi and Aang to laugh.

"But everybody loves me!" Bumi grinned.

Tenzin just looked at his father, "Are you sure I'm related to him?"

Aang just laughed harder.

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**So, what cha think? I like it, and yes, nothing happens when you eat a worm in an apple. I dont know how strict aang is with vegetarianism though. He probably would have laughed unless he was the victim of Bumi's prank. Tenzin's just the poor little brother that gets dragged into things in this one. O well. Please, review and tell me what you think. You can write anything, but please nothing rude, or unintelligible. Happy days left of summer vacation (already like half way through) and try not to eat any bugs. If you like to eat bugs, dont tell me. It grosses me out. Still, what was i saying? O yeah, Ciao. **


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